Five factions that want Norton out

Jan 14, 2023 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – From the time, the crescendo was reached for David Granger to step down from the PNC leadership, the picture was clear; there were contestants who wanted to become PNC leader. There was no consensus candidate.

Norton became leader in circumstances that were tsunamic. The PNC was in crisis. There was no strategic thinking in the party. There was need for a crystallization of direction. Even the planning of the Congress was not smooth.

In such an environment, there was no time for ambitious minds to plan their strategies. Norton then became leader in circumstances that were opaque and murky. It is not insulting to Norton to make that assessment.

If Granger had insisted on a long postponement of the Congress and agreed to hold the forte until things settled down, Norton may not have won the leader position. Norton’s vulnerability lies in the area of “being around too long.”

After the PNC’s performance in government and Granger’s leadership style, the feeling in the PNC was that there was time for newer faces. Norton was not seen as belonging to the future of the PNC. That feeling started after the demand for Granger to go and it is still there. It has not gone away. On the contrary, it is expanding each day with Norton’s mistakes.

The sharp indication of that thinking that Norton should go is the open criticism of Norton that is not subtle or subdued but brazenly public. Amna Ally would not have agreed for me to publicize her frustration if she knew there weren’t others that wanted Norton to be publicly chastised.

Before Ally there was Van- West Charles. Would he have gone public with his condemnation of Norton without talking to other PNC leaders who would have urged him not to do it? Both Ally and Charles had support in the PNC for the dissemination of their feelings.

Did Annette Ferguson act without consultation? What Ferguson did was equally damaging to Norton as what Faaiz Mursaline informed the nation about. She accused the PNC leadership of not properly organizing a fair election for the post of Georgetown leader in which a towering figure like Roysdale Forde’s had his eligibility to vote questioned.

Geeta-Chandan as General-Secretary stayed away for months, then returned and resigned. Did she act alone?  Did she put her position to others who either told her to stay on and fight Norton or resign and embarrass him?

We come now to Faaiz Mursalene. He was not an established figure in the PNC and could hardly be described as experienced in politics given his youthfulness. There isn’t even a shadow of doubt about Mr. Mursaline seeking advice before his bombshell disclosure.

One can conclude that Mr. Mursaline’s intended declaration was cleared by other PNC leaders. The stories of Ferguson, Chandan and Mursaline represent factional warfare in the PNC. There are essentially five cabals that want a leadership contest.

One is a group that is not within the leadership of the party but is powerfully placed because of their PNC experience, and simply wants Norton out. That group has an ongoing relationship with Chandan, Ganesh Mahipal and Roysdale Forde. Another faction is sympathetic to the perspective that the time has come for a woman to lead the PNC.

Ferguson belongs to that school which includes Amanda Walton-Desir and Coretta McDonald. The third compartment includes an ambitious group of Young Turks that feel their time has come and that Norton’s star has faded. The fourth is the Diaspora who feel that Norton was right to stake his claim to be PNC leader was given a chance and has failed.

It is difficult to see how Norton can survive the energy and planning of these units. If there is a Congress tomorrow, Norton will lose. He will lose when the next Congress comes around. There is a fifth cabal that is not really an organized group.

They consist of business people who will not put money into the PNC because they do not admire Norton, have appreciation for his style of leadership and believe he should go. These business folks are not political animals but they know the reality is the PNC is not going to form the next government so it is time to have a new leader that will make something out of the future for the PNC.

What is going to happen at the next Congress is that all five schools are going to strategize on how to move Norton and will pool their resources to defeat him. What I predict is that Norton will not have a formidable team to bat for him. He will not survive spin or pace. The wicket will be unplayable.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• Amanda Walton-Desir, David Granger, Freddie Kissoon, PNCR, Van- West Charles

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